Bola-amphiphile-imidazole embedded GO membrane with enhanced solvent dehydration properties

Abstract

Inspired by fast and selective water transport in natural Aquaporin (AQP), an water binding bola-amphiphile-imidazole compound (IU) was embedded with the hydrophilic and laminated graphene oxide (GO) to prepare IU-GO membrane.H-NMR, TG, XRD, SEM, AFM and FTIR were conducted to characterize physicochemical properties of IU and IU-GO membranes. It was demonstrated that IU could well interact with GO to generate a robust membrane structure. The resulting IU-GO membranes were applied for pervaporation dehydration of n-butanol-water.The total flux and the separation factor of the optimized IU-GO membrane were 3506 g•m -2 •h -1 and 4454 respectively when the membrane was measured at 343 K with butanol content of 80 wt%. Furthermore, the membrane exhibited good stability and separation performance during 120 hours continuous operation test, showing great potential in application of solvent dehydration.

Water Flow‐Induced Energy Harvesting Exploiting Stacked Graphene Oxide Membranes

“…FTIR analysis highlighted the presence of hydroxyl (3500-2500 and 1365 cm −1 ), carbonyl (1730 cm −1 ), alkenyl (1627 cm −1 ), and epoxy (1034 and 966 cm −1 ) groups. [22] Such groups result in a net surface charge of the GO dispersion with a Z-potential (Figure 2b) equal to −24 mV, in accordance with previous literature. [17] Such value is responsible for the high stability of GO dispersions in water since the Zpotential evaluates the electrostatic potential near the surface of suspended particles.…”

“…FTIR analysis highlighted the presence of hydroxyl (3500–2500 and 1365 cm −1 ), carbonyl (1730 cm −1 ), alkenyl (1627 cm −1 ), and epoxy (1034 and 966 cm −1 ) groups. [ 22 ]…”

Exclusive and fast water channels in zwitterionic graphene oxide membrane for efficient water–ethanol separation

“…Both GO and ZGO nanosheets were dispersed in water and water–ethanol mixture (mass ratio of 1:1) via 20 min of 600 W sonication with a concentration of 0.1 mg/ml. As shown in Figure 5a, the color of dispersion changes from brown to black after the functionalization process 26 . ZGO can be homogeneously dispersed in water when the mass ratio of ethanolamine: GO ranging from 2:1 to 6:1, while it shows obvious precipitation when the mass ratio increases to 8:1.…”

“…Moreover, GO contains abundant oxygen‐containing functional groups such as hydroxyl, epoxy, and carboxyl, allowing a facile postmodification for material optimization 20‐24 . Till now, GO membranes have acquired significant progress in molecular separation 9,24‐31 . However, the employment of GO membranes in an aqueous environment is difficult because the construction of precise GO nanochannels, which can be swelled by water, remains elusive 32‐36 .…”

Adaptive Gating Enhances Intelligent Membranes for Cellular Functions and Precise Separations

“…This phenomenon is reminiscent of the behavior of amphiphilic aquaporins in biological membranes. [ 40 ] Furthermore, the interlayer interactions established by these aggregates preserved the laminar architecture of the membrane, curbing the leakage of divalent ions by suppressing the tendency for water‐induced membrane swelling. [ 27 ] The stability of the GO/ZPDA membrane during long‐term immersion in acid and alkaline solutions was confirmed by the immersion test (Figure S12, Supporting Information), wherein the membrane maintained its structural integrity over 3 days, in stark contrast to the partially decomposed GO membrane evident from its washed‐out surface.…”